A COMPRESHENSIVE STUDY ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

 

Ariz Rabbani Sayyed ¹, Dr. Lenin Jothi ², Dr. Bhawna Sharma ³

 

¹ MBA 2nd Year (Marketing and Sales) Amity Business School, Amity University Mumbai, Mumbai, India

² Assistant Professor, Amity Business School, Amity University Mumbai, Mumbai, India

³ Director – International Affairs and Programs, Officiating HOI, Amity Business School Amity University Mumbai, Mumbai, India

 

1. INTRODUCTION

Digital marketing has proven to be one of the most disruptive technologies of contemporary businesses as it has helped brands to communicate instantly with customers, develop a deeper level of engagement, and generate quantifiable business results. The high penetration of smartphones, social media networks and affordable internet has seen businesses in all industries abandon the traditional marketing approach in favor of digital-first communication. The social media, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and Google My Business become the indispensable touchpoints where the perception of consumers, brand loyalty, and decision-making about purchases are created.

The internship carried out at Vision10X Digital marketing LLP, a full-service digital marketing agency located in Panvel, Maharashtra offered profound insights into how integrated approach to social media can be utilized in brand building and lead generation among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Vision10X has two significant branches, its domestic Indian agency and its international unit, Digital GB UK, which enables it to be exposed to both the Indian and the global market forces.

The present study is aimed at assessing the extent to which content planning, platform choice, paid promotion and branding integrity influence the effectiveness of the digital marketing campaigns. It further explores how video-based content, trend-based communication and analytics-driven decision making have contributed to better customer interactions or business presence. As the internship experience showed, an organized digital approach, backed by regular postings, customer-specific advertising, and optimized Google My Business pages, plays a crucial role in increasing the level of brand recognition and customer confidence.

Digital platforms have a high potential of growth but risks can be faced in the form of changing of the algorithm, increasing the cost of advertisements, saturation of content and poor client communication may limit performance. The project therefore seeks to learn about such challenges and find strategic solutions on how to make social media marketing effective.

Altogether, this introduction preconditions the analysis of the digital marketing ecosystem, the behavior of the platforms, the performance of the campaign, and the suggestion of the practical strategies which may help both Vision10X and other digital agencies to prosper in the competitive environment of the market.

 

2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is significant to Vision10X Digital Marketing LLP because it will emphasize how the use of social media content, branding, and paid advertisements affect engagement, visibility, and lead generation of the clients. The results help the company to enhance content strategies, communication with clients, and optimize the overall performance on the Internet.

In the academic facet, the research illustrates the use of digital marketing concepts (planning of content, analysis of engagement and targeting of the audience) in a practical agency setting. It reveals the link between the theoretical knowledge and practical information, as it aids in comprehending how people look at the consumer behaviour, and how effective social media strategies can be in the current competitive digital world.

 

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature on digital marketing proposes that effective social media branding assists enterprises to distinguish themselves and gain the trust of online consumers in very competitive digital settings. Research indicates that the visibility of the brand, regular communication of the content, and active communication with the audience are the key elements of the customer perception and loyalty on such platforms as Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok.

The available literature indicates the increased relevance of integrated content strategies in influencing consumer behaviour. According to researchers, the content of short-form video, the use of creative storytelling, and the platform-specific communication have a strong impact on reach and engagement. Both brands can be consistent and respond to changing algorithmic patterns through effective content planning that enables them to use calendars, thematic planning, and specific messaging.

The literature of performance marketing highlights the importance of paid advertising solutions such as Google Ads and Meta Ads in bringing high-intent traffic. The previous studies demonstrate that correct targeting of keywords, segmentation of audience, and A/B testing are paramount in reducing the Cost Per Lead (CPL) and enhancing the efficiency of campaign. The optimization of Google My Business (GMB) is also listed among the factors that play a significant role in the local visibility, which affects customer choices through the visits to the stores and the number of calls.

The other common theme that has been replicated in the studies that have been done is the effect of cultural and regional variations in digital communication. According to scholars, the effectiveness of content in different markets including India and UK differs because of the contrast in trends, tone of language and the behaviour of the user. This renders localization and adaptive communication important elements of an effective global digital strategy.

Overall, the literature available shows that the combination of organic content, paid ads, and the data-driven optimization is the basic of the effective social media marketing strategy. Nonetheless, the literature on the management of small digital agencies such as Vision10X in the context of integrated digital branding of various clients in both local and international markets is limited; hence, it can be suggested that this area may be explored further.

 

4. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The research hypotheses are stated in such a way as to be able to consider the correlation between social media strategies, digital branding and online development of companies being managed by Vision10X Digital Marketing LLP. These hypotheses can be used to find out the extent to which content planning, paid advertising, and platform optimization have any impact on brand awareness, engagement, and lead generation.

Null Hypothesis (H0)

H0: There are no considerable effects on online growth and participation of clients handled by Vision10X due to social media marketing and digital branding approaches.

In this hypothesis, there would be no significance in the quality of content, the amount of ads, and platform optimization in terms of reaching the customer, being visible, or generating a lead.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1)

H1: there is a strong positive effect of social media marketing and digital branding strategies on the online growth and interaction of clients that Vision10X handles.

This assumption is based on the idea that strategic content planning, targeted advertising, regular posting, and optimization based on data will promote brand awareness, customer engagement, and online performance.

 

 

 

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research design is exploratory and descriptive, which tries to comprehend the importance of social media marketing, digital branding, and performance advertising to enhance online presence, involvement, and lead generation to clients handled by Vision10X Digital Marketing LLP.

1)    Research Design

·        The exploratory research was applied to obtain preliminary information on content strategy, platform behaviour, ad performance, and client expectations.

·        Descriptive research was used to describe patterns that are observed like engagement rates, audience behaviour, consistency in posting and the effectiveness of paid ads on various platforms.

2)    Data Collection Methods

Primary Data

Collected through:

·        Practical handling of social media accounts of clients during the internship.

·        Informal communication with the staff of Vision10X on the content planning and ad strategies.

·        Platform performance (Instagram Insights, Google Ads Dashboard, Meta Business Suite) is observed on a daily basis.

This assisted in determining the problems on-the-fly in creating content, optimization of ads, and communicating with clients.

Secondary Data

Collected from:

·        Intranet performance reports and dashboards.

·        Documents of the company including content calendars and client briefs.

·        Social media trends in the industry (HubSpot, Ofcom, etc.).

·        Past literature and articles on digital branding and performance marketing.

The secondary data was used to augment the knowledge of the industry standard and the changing digital dynamics.

Sampling Method

·        Sampling Procedure: Non-probability convenience sampling.

·        Sample Items: Four client accounts (Two client accounts of Indians and Two client accounts of UK).

·        Sampling Platforms Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Google Ads, Google My Business.

Analytical Approach

·        Engagement patterns of Reels, carousels, static content, and Tik Tok videos engagement patterns.

·        Ad measure performance analysis of CTR, CPC, CPL, and reach.

·        Client feedback, communication gaps and content effectiveness thematic analysis.

 

5.1. Research Procedure

1)     The research problem and internship objectives are identified.

2)     Literature review of the social media marketing, digital branding, and performance advertising.

3)     In person monitoring and observation of client accounts.

4)     Platform data collected will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively.

5)     Findings, insights, conclusions, and recommendations development.

 

6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 1: Google ads campaign performance (Pre optimization vs After Optimization)

The statistics show the increase of the numbers following the implementation of the changes in the keywords and ad copy, as well as in the targeting of the audience.

Metric	Before Optimization	After Optimization	Change (%)
Impressions	42,000	53,200	26%
Click-Through Rate (CTR)	2.40%	3.10%	29%
Cost Per Lead (CPL)	₹ 410	₹ 295	–28%
Leads Generated	45	78	73%

 

 

Interpretation:

The optimization stage greatly improved the efficiency of the campaigns. The decline in CPL and the increase in leads proves that properly formulated ad structures and the use of keywords have a direct impact on the results in terms of revenue. It also implies that organized and data-supported advertising can be of great advantage to the small business.

Figure 2

Performance of Engagement in the Content types (Reels, Carousels, Static Posts, Tik Tok Videos).

The amount indicates the performance of the various content types represented by average engagement and visibility.

Content Type	Average Reach	Engagement Rate (%)
Instagram Reels	5,800	6.20%
TikTok Videos (UK)	7,200	7.50%
Carousels	2,300	3.10%
Static Posts	1,200	1.80%

 

Interpretation:

The most reached and engaged content were the short-form video material (Reels, Tik Tok), which proves their superiority in the modern online world. Carousels have been found to do averagely well, particularly where there is learning or information included. The worst performance was observed with the static posts, which suggests a decline in the preference of the algorithm to the content in the form of images.

All in all, the results indicate that video-based content strategies are an important way of increasing brand exposure and communication with the audience, which is a key to digital development.

 

7. CONCLUSION

The study has shown that the social media marketing is an important aspect that determines the visibility of the brand, the engagement with customers as well as lead generation to the clients under Vision10X Digital Marketing LLP. Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, and Google My Business were the platforms that showed great performance in developing the online presence in case of supported as they could be developed and continuous posting of the content. The most effective format proved to be short-form video content, which reached a vast number of people and interacted with the audiences in both the Indian and UK markets.

Nevertheless, there were difficulties in terms of inconsistent content approvals, the capacity to produce video, escalating advertising and inconsistent client expectation which influenced the overall performance. The research demonstrates that by incorporating structured optimized content calendars, optimization of the advertisement based on data, and enhanced communication, the digital performance of SMEs can be significantly enhanced. Moreover, better localization of foreign customers and increased investment in video-based narration would make Vision10X more competitive.

In general, it can be concluded that a comprehensive strategy of using organic content, performance marketing based on paid, and effective analytical interpretation is necessary as a tool of long-term digital expansion. As the workflow, education of clients, and the use of AI tools become refined further, Vision10X will be able to increase its reach in terms of services and provide even more impressive outcomes in the rapidly changing digital marketing environment.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

None.

 

REFERENCES

Gartner. (2024). Artificial Intelligence in Marketing: Future Trends, Personalization, and Automation. Gartner Research.

HubSpot. (2024). Video Marketing and State of Social Media Report. HubSpot Research.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson Education.

Ofcom. (2024). Online Nation Report: The use of Social Media in the UK. Ofcom Publications.

Ryan, D. (2020). Introduction to Digital Marketing: How to Connect to the Digital Generation.